Barba must argue that the First Amendment does not give a person the right to break the law when a woman is raped by a member of her church group.Barba must argue that the First Amendment does not give a person the right to break the law when a woman is raped by a member of her church group.Barba must argue that the First Amendment does not give a person the right to break the law when a woman is raped by a member of her church group.
- Detective Odafin 'Fin' Tutuola
- (as Ice T)
- Dave
- (as David Julian Levi)
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaOrlagh Cassidy has played three different characters over the course of the series:
- Episode 18.19 Conversion (2017) - Cheryl Davenport
- Episode 11.11 Quickie (2010) - Mrs. Christensen
- Episode 3.2 Wrath (2001) - Valerie Plummer
- GoofsIn the beginning of the episode, Lieutenant Benson refers to Odafin Tutuola as Detective, but he was promoted to Sergeant two episodes earlier.
- Quotes
Rafael Barba: His lawyer's invoking the First Amendment?
Amanda Rollins: He claims he was trying to cure her, and the victim does, too.
Rafael Barba: The victim?
Dominick Carisi Jr.: Yeah, she admits that she was raped, but she doesn't wanna press charges because she thinks the guy did it for the right reasons.
Olivia Benson: None of that matters. Ann didn't consent. It was rape.
Dominick Carisi Jr.: Right, but if she really believes that what he did was curative...
Rafael Barba: Even if you buy into this demented doctrine, a patient has the right to refuse care at any time.
Dominick Carisi Jr.: Of course, but I'm just saying that given her religious beliefs, all right, it's more than possible that this kid's defense attorney is gonna lather that up into consent.
Rafael Barba: Yeah, I agree. So we've gotta help Ann see the light, so to speak.
Odafin Tutuola: And how do we do that?
Rafael Barba: Use your imagination. Religion has been used to justify everything from genocide to the war against Christmas. I'm sure we can twist it in our favor for once. Just get her on our side.
- ConnectionsReferences The Wizard of Oz (1939)
One of the low points of the season, and even perhaps of the show, is "Conversion". It is not as if there is any bias against anything tackling religion, just that the franchise and particularly 'Special Victims Unit' has wildly varied wildly in its portrayal of it and this was a bizarre and less than tasteful portrayal of it. Bizarre and less than tasteful are things in my view that can be used to sum up "Conversion" itself. Not a complete disaster, but really not good.
Am going to start with the few good points. As ever, the photography and such are fully professional, the slickness still remaining. The music is used sparingly and is haunting and non-overwrought when it is used, and it's mainly used when a crucial revelation or plot development is revealed.
Did think that the regular acting was good.
That is on the other hand pretty much it when it comes to the praise. What immediately stands out is the the very heavy handed and downright bizarre portrayal of religion. This indeed has happened and still does happen in real life, which has caused a lot of offense, but not always in this overkill a fashion. This was like watching an over the top cartoon based on religion rather than any tactful handling of a tough subject.
Too much comes out out of left field too, like the out of the blue revelation of Olivia being religious. The supporting characters came over as over the top caricatures rather than real people and are amateurishly acted. Did find too much of the dialogue repetitive and on the preachy side, while the case is flimsy and predictable with little tension or suspense. The team seem disconnected and Olivia still grates with her "I'm always right and nobody else is" attitude.
Concluding, very weak. 3/10.
- TheLittleSongbird
- Nov 2, 2022
Details
- Runtime43 minutes
- Color
- Sound mix
- Aspect ratio
- 16:9 HD